1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a locking construction with a resiliently deformable lock piece and to a connector provided therewith.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H08-9532 discloses a lock construction for locking a cover on a box main body of a relay box. Lock projections are provided on the outer wall of the cover and lock pieces cantilever up from the outer wall of the box main body towards the cover. The lock pieces are formed with lock holes engageable with the lock projections of the cover.
Upper ends of the lock pieces move onto the lock projections and deform outward when the cover is mounted on the box main body. The lock pieces are restored resiliently inward when the upper ends of the lock pieces move over the lock projections, and the lock holes of the lock pieces engage the lock projections to lock the box main body and the cover together.
The cover may have to be detached from the box main body for maintenance or the like. Accordingly, the leading end of a jig, such a minus driver, is inserted at the inner side of the upper end of the lock piece from above the cover to deform the lock piece in an unlocking direction. A lever action generally is utilized to perform the unlocking operation with a small force. Hence, the leading end of the jig is placed on the leading end of the lock piece and an intermediate part of the jig is brought into contact with the outer edge of the cover while. The jig then is inclined about the fulcrum where the contact part is supported on the cover. In this manner, the leading end of the jig can displace the lock piece in the unlocking direction.
An angle of the jig during unlocking is determined by the position of the leading end of the lock piece and the position of the fulcrum obtained when the intermediate part of the jig contacts the cover. However, the supporting point is at only one point determined by the shape of the cover. This means that an insertion area of the jig for the unlocking operation is restricted to a very narrow angle range only at one point, which consequently leads to restriction in the arrangement of parts since other parts cannot be arranged in a planned area where the jig is to be inserted for the unlocking operation.
For example, in the case of assembling electric components such as switches and connectors into a vehicle door, a high-density arrangement is forced due to insufficient space around these electric components. In such a case, the conventional locking construction cannot be adopted for the electric components due to the restriction in terms of the arrangement of parts.
The invention was developed in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a locking construction including a resiliently deformable lock piece and capable of alleviating restriction on a jig insertion area necessary for an unlocking operation and facilitating the arrangement of parts.\